“My full name is David Blaine Sipler; first name David, but go by my middle name Blaine. I was born in Trenton, New Jersey on December 28, 1933 which makes me 78 years old. I come from a family of fishermen. My father was an avid saltwater fisherman; he made most of his own equipment and fished year round at the Jersey shore. I caught the fishing bug early in life. There was a lake by our house and I spent most of my time fishing there. After graduating from high school I started an electrical apprenticeship in 1952. In 1955 I married my beautiful wife Ruth and moved to Pennsylvania where we raised three children.
I currently live in Newtown, Bucks County in eastern PA. I retired from the trade in 1992. I was always handy with my hands but not particularly arty. While working I tried my hand at carving. I gravitated to fish and designed and carved several pieces. After retiring I had the time to get into the craft a little more seriously.
Off and on, I started selling different stuff on Ebay. While pursuing Ebay one day I came across Fish Decoys for sale, after looking them over I decided I could do that. I researched decoy carving and in January of 2000, I sold my first decoy on Ebay for $39.60 and the artist was born. Doing what I enjoyed and making money at it. Other things started getting in the way and I stopped serious carving in 2003. The last decoy I carved was a year ago for a fishing guide that my son and I fish with on the St. Lawrence River. I never ice fished; working outside most of my life I have no desire to set out on the ice. I do a lot of fishing in the warm weather.”
blainesipler@comcast.net
Info provided by March 11, 2012, from D. B. Sipler to Dale E. Claus